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Whats with the over the top obsession with Japan here at the temp. I understand as gamers it has a big influence on us as most of what we play is made/released there before it hits the rest of the world.

People around here however act like its the next garden of eden. I am sure Japan is an amazing place. I personally love the food of Japan, and I am sure it would be that much better eating that food in the country that created it. I however question why, especially the younger kids here want to visit so badly.

I am sure there are tons of amazing things to do and see in Japan, I just don't know how much the younger crowd here would appreciate the culture and history of Japan, as opposed to it just being a chance for them to buy cool stuff ( See any of the "I am going to Japan, what should I buy threads)

So anyhow, tell me why you want to go so bad. Is it just to buy stuff? Do you want to understand Japan's culture and people better, learn the history, try the food (Oh god Udon)? try to understand more the way they feel about things like same sex friendship and companionship, they way they feel about other favourite things here like hentai....Because the people of Japan have different views on alot of these than we do....

I'd love to visit Japan. I am sure I would buy video game related stuff, however I would personally go for the food, and for the history. (Note....i want to see hand pulled noodles made in person, those guys who make them are amazing)

Well, I've been obsessed with Japan since I was three years old, playing the NES. (That is: almost 18 years ago).
THAT was not influenced by manga or anime... it was some games though... but the main part was language, and clothing and the overall society in general.

(or well, i did watch starzinger (spaceketeers in the US) at that time as well... )

Whats with the over the top obsession with Japan here at the temp. I understand as gamers it has a big influence on us as most of what we play is made/released there before it hits the rest of the world.

People around here however act like its the next garden of eden. I am sure Japan is an amazing place. I personally love the food of Japan, and I am sure it would be that much better eating that food in the country that created it. I however question why, especially the younger kids here want to visit so badly.

I am sure there are tons of amazing things to do and see in Japan, I just don't know how much the younger crowd here would appreciate the culture and history of Japan, as opposed to it just being a chance for them to buy cool stuff ( See any of the "I am going to Japan, what should I buy threads)

So anyhow, tell me why you want to go so bad. Is it just to buy stuff? Do you want to understand Japan's culture and people better, learn the history, try the food (Oh god Udon)? try to understand more the way they feel about things like same sex friendship and companionship, they way they feel about other favourite things here like hentai....Because the people of Japan have different views on alot of these than we do....

I'd love to visit Japan. I am sure I would buy video game related stuff, however I would personally go for the food, and for the history. (Note....i want to see hand pulled noodles made in person, those guys who make them are amazing)

If you tell those people (Fanatics that obsess over anime, manga, and Japan) that anime and manga are niche things in Japan they'd call you a dirty liar.
Even if you're telling the truth.

A lot of these people see Japan in an idealized light, partially due to anime and manga. They never see or hear about what their society and culture is really like over there so they think it's all that.

I'd love to visit Japan to try out the different foods and buy things you can only get there for reasonable prices...but I'd also love to visit other places for the same reasons.

I always chuckle when I hear someone say they want to move to Japan...outside the cheap and fast internet Japan is a pretty messed up place if you're used to living in the western world.

Well Japan is just one of the many places i want to visit when i get older, i do not want to go now because i feel that i might ignore Japan's fascinating culture and people and instead just go play some video games.
Which is not a bad thing but that would be a waste of your trip.

Japan is very different to the West ... well, not that different to the UK, I found, but certainly very different from the US.

They work their asses off, get very few holidays, and outside the different Otaku (being an Otaku is generally frowned upon in Japan, and is considered an anti-social behaviour disorder, to some extent) subsets, are very different to what the Wapanese believe them to be.

A lot of what they take as normal, Westerners can find strange, or even offensive ... it is, as I said, a very different place ... especially if you stray from the touristy areas.

Some nice artwork comes out of there when it's done well, but I'm not really interested in visiting Japan. Not to say it's a bad place, just not my cup of tea. If I'm going halfway across the world I'd rather do Australia (but probably never will, spiders scare the shit out of me!). I don't know much about it, but I get the impression of an oppressive work ethic and bland snackfood, which really doesn't appeal to me. Especially the snackfood part. But that's just me.

ITT super-elitist weeaboos all convincing each other that they are better than normal weeaboos.

Japan is just like any other place; i.e. really awesome if you haven't been there, and pretty normal and blah if you have.

Also, in general, people who say "really young kids always do it this way" don't sound like adults looking at little children and passing judgement on them; they sound like little children trying really hard to act like adults.

So, if you aren't some snot-nosed little kid trying really hard to impress everyone on temp, then keep in mind that it _really_ sounds that way.

Sorry to troll, but I can't stand it when people feel like they are elitist, that makes them less of a hypocrite.

Actually I went through a phase like that where I thought everything Japanese was totally awesome in my yonger years.

Its just a phase when you are a naive youngster. Wanting to explore something to be perceived different and better. From what they gather from the internet and anime, they think its the most awesome place in the world because its full of cool games, useless gadgets, hot girls who just WANTING to screw a western guy, and non-stop things which animes portray and the person thinks is true.

The worst part is when you have that mind set, you start immersing yourself in this 'fantasy culture' on the Western side of the world of what you think Japan is. As a matter of fact, you are just fabricating a reality of what the place is really like. If I look back upon myself from the third person, I can really see what a shameful youngster I was. Embarassing. Absolutely embarassing. A man shouldn't be immersing themselves in pink cute stuff and telling everyone about all the cool stuff thats Japanese which probably is far from the truth. I wasted a few years of my life living this fantasy mindset of thinking everything in Japan was awesome. Then I came to the realization, its just a country and what I'm looking at is commerce produced by people in that country. I can't get that time back which I wasted.

Fast forward back to the present, I am now married and I have an excellent job. This obsession is a chapter I'd prefer not to visit again. I wonder how I would be like if I still had this obsession. I wouldn't be married that's for sure.

I was searching for some game OSTs, for my eldest ... she's in the Wapanese phase, sadly ... and tracked them down to a site I shall not name ... and all I can say is every single person on that site's forum managed to use the word 'hug' in nearly every post they made ... and everything was uber-cute, and so totally saccharine-sweet, that I wanted to retch ... the way people there talked in their posts, there was no doubt that many had crossed the boundaries between the real and the imagined.

I would rather my teenage children turn to Satanism, than to immerse themselves in that faux-cute, sickly, fairytale la-la nonsense.

Yes, I am an old man, but that level of fantasy can't be good for anyone's mental health.

Having an imagination is important, especially in the young, but you must know what is real and what is not.

Like the man said, you cannot build castles in the air without your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Japan is very different to the West ... well, not that different to the UK, I found, but certainly very different from the US.

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Yup, there aren't that many jobs here in the UK for computer programming so I'm planning to move to Japan once I get through University and into the world of work And no, I don't portray Japan as an Anime fantasy land where you can perform kamehamehas xD I know everything about the trains at rush hour and traffic. It may be hell but I need a well paid job in computer programming which is hard to find in England. Japan is closer to England than the US is so it's a logical chose =]

I'm not interested in Japanese females or anything of the sort... I just want a job T_T

ITT super-elitist weeaboos all convincing each other that they are better than normal weeaboos.

Japan is just like any other place; i.e. really awesome if you haven't been there, and pretty normal and blah if you have.

Also, in general, people who say "really young kids always do it this way" don't sound like adults looking at little children and passing judgement on them; they sound like little children trying really hard to act like adults.

So, if you aren't some snot-nosed little kid trying really hard to impress everyone on temp, then keep in mind that it _really_ sounds that way.

Sorry to troll, but I can't stand it when people feel like they are elitist, that makes them less of a hypocrite.

Click to expand...

Well...no one was bashing anyone and the usage of "younger crowd" was used in two posts. "Kids" was never brought up.
In fact, so far, we've only been questioning why there's such a fascination with Japan and pointing out that Japan isn't what most people think it is.
It's just another country with a very different culture and social system from the western world.

So...ironically, your post is the only one that sticks out so far.
...
So far.